Acceptance
by PretzelofFate
Summary: The story of Lily, James and their friends. Read and Review? Thanks. :


It was the last night of the term and the feast had ended long ago, however Lily Evans was still up, wandering through the candle-lit hallways. She had her prefect badge stored carefully away in her pocket. Just in case a student or teacher saw her and began to question why she was out at such a ghastly hour.  
Patrolling. That was her excuse. It was, of course, far too late to be patrolling, but she had an almost spotless record. She was sure that the most any of the teachers would do was send her back to her dorm.

She still, however, stopped dead upon hearing a noise. Although she did not fear the teachers, she had no interest in being seen. She was enjoying her walk and did not want to be sent back to the Gryffindor tower.  
She pressed herself up against the wall and proceeded to listen to the voices that echoed from around the corner.  
They were not, however, the voices of teachers. Even at the low whisper in which they were speaking, she recognized the voices. They belonged to her classmates. She wasn't at all surprised to hear them. This particular set of Gryffindors was known for breaking the rules. She was just about to round the corner and reprimand them for being out so late when they spoke again.

"Padfoot, _please_." The voice belonged to James Potter, though it was different than normal. It was a side of him she had never heard before. It sounded as if he was begging, pleading, even.

"No, Prongs." Sirius Black answered. His voice was quiet and although she could barely make out his words, the pain in his voice was undeniable. "Just help me back to the dorm. We'll find a remedy."  
Lily froze. They weren't planting on of their pranks like she had thought. It sounded as if Sirius was injured somehow.

"I don't know the slightest thing about healing wounds," James reminded him. "And that one on your leg is brutal; look at all that blood. Can we please just go to the hospital wing?"

"James, _no_." Sirius replied, using all of his energy to make him sound commanding. "They'll know how it happened, then they'll never let us see, or help Moony again."

'Moony?' Lily thought to herself. As in Remus Lupin? They're best friend hurt them? And the one that she actually liked the most out of the four. She inched forward, then peered around the corner.

James seemed to have accepted Sirius' response. Peter Pettigrew, who was standing mere inches away from Lily, had not. "Maybe that's a good thing," he said.

Both Sirius' and James' heads shot up and turned to glare at Peter. Lily had never before seen either of them look so angry. Especially not when looking at their best friend. She was obviously out of the loop on something.

James had opened his mouth to say something, but then he shut it again, his expression changing from anger to shock. She wondered why until Sirius turned his head a bit and she realized that it was because they had spotted her.  
For a moment, they all stood in complete silence. Neither side sure of what to say, Lily had no idea what she had just walked in on, and the others weren't sure of what to tell her. After all, it wasn't really their secret to tell.  
Finally James spoke. "Lily, What are you doing down here?"

Lily paused. "Me? I'm- I'm just.. Walking. What are _you_ doing down here? What happened to Sirius?" Her voice was rushed; panicked.  
"It's nothing, Lily." James replied. "We were just heading back up to the tower." She immediately knew that he was lying. His tone was serious. James Potter was _never _serious.  
"Why can't he go to the hospital wing?" She inquired.  
The moment the words were out of her mouth, James' expression changed. He knew that she had overheard at least some of their conversation.

"I'm fine," Sirius piped up. It was weird for Lily to hear him not joking or chatting up girls. "James and I will find a spell to seal up the wounds."

Lily scowled, but their faces told her that she wouldn't be able to change their minds. "Fine," she said. "Can I at least help you?" She had never been very fond of James or Sirius, but at the moment, it seemed like a good suggestion. She thought they could use the help.

James and Sirius exchanged glances. "I have a book on healing," Lily added. "I'm sure there's a good spell in there."

"Okay," James replied after a long pause.  
Him and Peter helped support Sirius while Lily walked ahead of them, on the lookout for teachers. They ran into Professor Slughorn at one point, but Lily smoothly sent him headed in the opposite direction before he could spot Sirius.

Eventually they made it up to the Gryffindor tower. James, Peter and Sirius headed up to their dormitory, while Lily went up to hers to retrieve the book. She had to creep around the room in order to not wake anyone. After what seemed like forever, she found the book and headed back to the boys. She had to suppress the urge to laugh as she entered their dorm. They were talking about Quidditch, of all things. 'At least James knew not to let him fall asleep,' Lily thought.  
James smiled as Lily walked into the room. It was much neater than she was expecting. "Now what?" James asked her.

"How bad does it hurt?" she asked, Sirius shrugging in response.  
Lily leaned over his bed in order to get a closer look at the wounds. There was one on his face, chest and leg. "What happened?" she asked. "It looks like some type of animal attacked you."

James shifted uncomfortably in his seat.  
"It doesn't matter," Sirius replied. "Can you heal them?" he asked, changing the topic.

Lily ignored his question. "Of course it matters. What were you guys doing? And why isn't Remus here? You mentioned him earlier. Actually, you said that it was him who did this."

"Lily, we can't tell you." James said. "Please just trust us and help fix Sirius' scars."

Lily stared at James. She had hated him for as long as she could remember. He was arrogant and cocky and was constantly asking her out. She was practically the only girl in school who refused to date him. They had never been on good terms. She couldn't even remember the last civilized conversation she had had with him.

But tonight it was different, somehow. They hadn't bickered at all. And right now, he didn't seem cocky or arrogant. Staring at the ground rather than her, he seemed shy and apologetic.

"Fine," she finally agreed. "But.. You weren't doing anything illegal, where you?"

"No," Sirius replied automatically.

"Well, Kind of." James added. "But it was all for the good of someone else. I promise."

Lily scowled; they were being so vague. However, she momentarily pushed it out of her mind and began flipping through her book.

"I don't think I can properly heal them, " Lily said eventually. "But I can stop all the bleeding and make the scars a bit less noticeable."

"Thank you so much," James replied. "I wouldn't have even known where to look for the spells."

"Yeah, He was just going to leave me here to die." Sirius sighed, dramatically.

"You're not exactly dying," Lily stated.


End file.
